Not fifteen minutes later, Tally, the turtles, and Splinter were all sat around the homey kitchen table, a microwaved pizza in the middle of them. Tally took the first piece, then immediately regretted the decision, as Splinter glanced at her. She could've smacked herself. This was his home, not hers, and plus he's her elder, he should've taken the first piece. Here she was, barging into their home like she owned the place, taking the first piece of pizza, making herself at home. I'm a moron. She thought dully. By the way he talked and held himself, he wasn't from New York. And judging by the dojo and the way he dressed, this rat-Splinter, she reminded herself-was probably from a culture big on respect and courtesy, and she may have pretty much just demolished her chances of being on good terms with the guy.
The turtles may like or tolerate her, but it all depended on this Splinter. He was obviously the head of the house.
"I'm so sorry." She said quickly, passing her plate to him. She saw his head tilt slightly, and he accepted the plate.
"Thank you, Tally." He said kindly. He doesn't seem…mad. She thought idly.
There was an awkward silence.
Finally, mercifully, Mikey took a plate. Then the other three, and finally, Tally took the last one.
"So." Splinter said, taking a nibble of his pizza. He looked directly at Tally, and she felt his brown/gold eyes stare into her soul. She thought she was going to die. "How did you come to us with a bullet in your stomach, young one?"
Tally could've fainted in relief. She wasn't kicked out. Not yet. Then she registered the question and got a knot in her stomach. When the guys had dropped her off at the hospital a week ago, she had spilled her guts. She thought she was never going to see them again. But now, sitting here with them, and their father, master, sensei, whatever, she dreaded the thought of retelling it. She briefly considered lying. She was a pretty good liar. But no doubt the guys would call her out. And if this Splinter had raised four boy-turtles, there was a no way he wouldn't be able to tell if she was lying.
She decided to go with the truth.
Tally cleared her throat. "Uh…" she said, unsure of where to begin. "Well," she paused, "I was kind of…looking for that guy, I think you guys said his name was Hun or something?" Leo nodded, and Splinter's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"You were looking for Hun." He repeated. Tally nodded.
"Yes sir."
"Why?"
Tally ran a hand through her messy hair. Her ponytail was almost stretched out to its max, and she needed to give herself a haircut. "I uh…he…revenge." She mumbled. "The Purple Dragons arson-ed my house and my parents were caught in it when I was ten. My dad was a cop and was a leader of a drug raid that busted a bunch of Dragons," She explained. "I figured out where the leader was, and that he probably ordered it, so I went looking for revenge." She swallowed the dry lump in her throat. "I ran away from foster care when I was fourteen, last year, and came to Manhattan on a lead. I hadn't found anything up until last week, and I went for it." She paused, spreading her hands. "I realized as soon as I got there how stupid an idea it was. I'm a fifteen year old trying to take on a gang leader. Smart. I know. But I was already in there and then they came in and then I was stuck and I had to make a run for it and well…"
Splinter nodded. "At least you realize it was a foolish thing to do." He said. Tally grimaced. She really was a moron.
"Yes sir."
"Are you still angry?"
Tally sat back. Yeah, she was still angry. Angry at Hun and the Purple Dragons, angry at herself for getting caught and not being smarter about it, and angry at the situation she was in. She was even angry at her parents for leaving her. Her dad should've protected her mom and himself. He should've known what was coming. He should've done something. And he, and her mom, were cruelly ripped from her by something she couldn't control. She was supposed to grow up with a loving family. She was supposed to get a boyfriend and go to college. She was supposed to do so much more than what she was doing.
"…Yes sir." Tally repeated, looking at the table as she picked at her finger nails.
She saw Splinter nodded out of her peripheral vision and sit back, as the turtles munched on their pizza.
"Thank you for being honest." Splinter said finally. "And I am sorry for your loss." Tally nodded. That's usually what people said. I'm sorry. Well I'm sorry doesn't do squat in her opinion. "I think it is only fair that you hear our story." Tally looked up curiously. Ever since she had met the turtles, she had been wondering how that whole thing happened. Mikey sat up straighter.
"Master may I tell it?" He asked, practically bouncing in his chair. Splinter seemed reluctant, but waved his hands. Mikey grinned and leaned forward on the table, eyes wide in anticipation of the story he was about to tell.
"Long ago-in a far off land-" he paused. "Japan. It was Japan." Tally nodded. "Master Splinter was but a lowly rat. Splinter here was a pet to a Foot solider named Hamato Yoshi." Tally looked at the rat in confusion.
"I thought your name was Hamato Yoshi?" she asked. "Your owner named you after him?"
"No," Splinter said, shaking his head. "He named me Splinter. After he was murdered, I took his name."
"Murdered?" Tally asked in alarm. And her she thought she was the only one with a tragic back story.
Mikey waved his hands wildly, hushing her down. "I'll get there." He promised, before continued. "So. Hamato Yoshi was a Foot-yes like the guys we fought earlier-" Mikey supplied, as he saw the question forming on Tally's lips. "Splinter copied Yoshi's moves and learned ninjustu, which made him pretty BA. Anyway." He cleared his throat. "Yoshi fell in love with this girl and a fellow Foot dude got jealous and when he was rejected, he totally went ape on this girl, so Yoshi killed ol' fellow Foot dude for hurting his girl you know?"
"Uh…sure?" Tally said. "So, Splinter had a master, and the master fell in love with a girl, but another guy was in love with the girl. And when she rejected the other guy for Yoshi, the other guy beat her up, and Yoshi killed the other guy for beating his girl?" she clarified.
"That's what I said." Mikey said. "Moving on." He cleared his throat. "So, Yoshi was exiled to the good ol' U.S of A. with his wife and rat-Splinter-and then the other guy's brother-"
"Oroku Saki-The Shredder. Whom the Foot work for." Leo chimed in.
"Dude, I'm telling the story."
"Yeah, and you're doing a pretty lousy job." Raph snorted.
"Just let him finish." Donny said in exasperation.
Mikey rolled his eyes. "Anyway. Okay. So. Oroku Saki was the other guy's brother. And he wanted to revenge on Yoshi for killing his brother. So he killed them both and Splinter escaped to the sewers, and voila!"
Tally's eyebrow's scrunched in confusion. "That doesn't explain how you guys are like this?" she asked.
Mikey's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to answer, but Donny shut it and addressed Tally.
"That's an entirely different story." He explained. "After Splinter escaped to the sewers, there was a car accident. We, as four regular baby turtles, were washed down with some ooze, mutagen, which got on all of us. Suddenly we were here and Splinter took us in."
Tally nodded thoughtfully. "That's…cool. Something out of a comic book or something." She said.
"And that's our story." Mikey grinned, gobbling up the last of his pizza. Tally grimaced. Since story time was over, she guessed she'd have to leave now.
"My turtles," Splinter announced, "It is time for bed." The boys groaned but nodded, getting up.
"Tally, where is your current residence?" Splinter asked. Tally looked over at him and bit her thumb nail.
"Uh…down a couple blocks." She said. She wanted to stay. She really did. But she couldn't. Not if they didn't want her there. It was warm, and the company, despite being odd, was pleasant.
Splinter nodded. "It is far too late for a young woman to be traveling alone. You will stay here tonight."
Tally could've leapt with joy. She wanted to cheer and hug the old rat. But she restrained herself to a sitting bow. "Thank you sir." She said.
"I hope you do not mind the couch." Splinter said, slight apology in his voice. Tally shook her head.
"Not at all." She said. "Thank you."
"Leonardo, please set Tally up on the couch."
"Yes sensei." Leo said, before going off to fetch some blankets.
"The rest of you, off to bed."
The three remaining turtles bowed and went off their separate ways, Tally assumed to their rooms. The place was bigger than she originally thought. Splinter got up from his chair and cracked his back, before turning to his own room.
"Sleep well, Tally. Thank you for sharing your story." He said. Tally was unsure of what to say, so she nodded.
"Thank you for sharing yours." She responded. Splinter seemed satisfied with the answer, and disappeared behind the dojo doors.
A few minutes later Leo came back with a pillow and a couple blankets. He started setting up the long couch and Tally stopped him.
"I-I got it." She insisted, "I don't want to make your life harder." Leo nodded and shrugged, stepping back and heading toward his room as well. "Hey Leo?"
"Yeah?" he paused, looking back at her.
"Thanks for everything." She said softly. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." He said, before disappearing.
Tally sighed and plopped on the worn couch. It was a lot softer than she thought it was going to be. Well, anything beat pavement. She fluffed her pillow and curled up in her blankets just as the main lights were turned off. Tally looked up at the ceiling for a long time, thinking. How had she even got into this situation? It wasn't a bad one, not by a long shot. It was just…weird. Like it didn't even exist.
All she knew was that her life was probably never going to be the same.